"It pains me to say that New York isn't the center of the rap universe anymore, and it hasn't been for a while. I was thinking about that a lot recently with the new French Montana and Max B song. It's an extremely low-hanging-fruit sample. It's a sort of sample that could have powered a classic Bad Boy record from the mid-to late 90s. It's the type of sample that could have powered a crossover drill hit of the early 2020s."
"I don't know that this is a national rap hit, but New York increasingly has become one regional style among many. So Max B was something of a regional New York rap hero back when that was still kind of a novel thing to be. If you've ever called something wavy, you have Max B, in part, to thank. He was really interesting with melody and language."
New York no longer serves as the central hub of rap; the city's sound is one regional style among many. French Montana's new song with Max B uses a low-hanging, sample-driven approach reminiscent of mid-to-late 1990s Bad Boy records and early-2020s crossover drill hits. The track functions as a welcome for Max B, who returned after a 16-year sentence following a guilty plea to aggravated manslaughter. Max B influenced the 'wavy' melodic and linguistic approach in New York rap. Simultaneously, other New York artists pursue dubbed-out, cloudy post-post-rage textures, diversifying the local rap landscape.
Read at www.nytimes.com
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